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Year 10 Science — Speed and motion

Work out speed, distance or time from the other two, choose between m/s and km/h, and tell uniform linear motion from non-uniform.

Name: ________________________

Before you start

A train leaves station A and reaches station D. Its position along the straight track is marked out below.

0120

Read the marks as the position of a train at equal intervals of time. When each gap between successive positions matches the one before, the speed is not changing and the motion is uniform. When the gaps grow or shrink, the speed is changing and the motion is non-uniform.

  1. 1.A train travels at a speed of 90 kilometres per hour. How many hours does it take to cover 360 kilometres? Answer with a number.

  2. 2.A bus moves at a speed of 50 kilometres per hour for 2 hours. How far does it go, in kilometres? Answer with a number.

  3. 3.A cyclist covers 240 metres in 30 seconds. What is the cyclist's speed in metres per second? Answer with a number.

  4. 4.Three sprinters are part-way through a race on a straight track and one of them is ahead of the others. What does that tell you?

    • a) Nothing until the race is over
    • b) She has covered more distance in the same time, so she is the faster
    • c) She has a longer stride, which is a different thing from speed
    • d) She started before the others did

  5. 5.A car's journey is 60 kilometres and it takes 1 hour, so its speed works out at 60 kilometres per hour. But it stopped twice at signals. What does the chapter call the 60?

    • a) Its highest speed
    • b) Its average speed
    • c) Its uniform speed
    • d) Its lowest speed

  6. 6.Sort each stretch of a train's journey along a straight track.

    Groups: Uniform linear motion · Non-uniform linear motion

    • A train covering the same distance in each ten-minute interval
    • A train slowing down as it comes into a station
    • A train pulling out of a station and picking up speed
    • A train running at an unchanging speed along a straight stretch
    • A train covering different distances in successive ten-minute intervals

  7. 7.A train covers 300 kilometres in 4 hours. What is its speed in kilometres per hour? Answer with a number.

  8. 8.The chapter calls uniform linear motion an idealisation. Why?

    • a) It applies to trains but to nothing else
    • b) Objects are seldom found holding a constant speed for long, which is why average speeds are used
    • c) Straight tracks do not exist in practice
    • d) Speed cannot be measured accurately enough to check it

Answer key — Year 10 Science — Speed and motion

  1. 1. 4
  2. 2. 100
  3. 3. 8
  4. 4. b) She has covered more distance in the same time, so she is the faster
  5. 5. b) Its average speed
  6. 6. A train covering the same distance in each ten-minute interval → Uniform linear motion; A train running at an unchanging speed along a straight stretch → Uniform linear motion; A train covering different distances in successive ten-minute intervals → Non-uniform linear motion; A train pulling out of a station and picking up speed → Non-uniform linear motion; A train slowing down as it comes into a station → Non-uniform linear motion
  7. 7. 75
  8. 8. b) Objects are seldom found holding a constant speed for long, which is why average speeds are used